After receiving several books for review purposes, I have learned a couple of things. First, I would rather choose my own books. Second, I don’t like reading books for the purpose of reviewing them. I would rather read for my own education and edification. My hope is that this will benefit some beyond myself. With that said, I hope you’ll understand if this is not a particularly well-written review. It is, after all, my first book review, as well.
The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us through the Events of Our Lives is the first book I have read by Ravi Zacharias. I had, of course, heard of him as an author, apologist, and conference speaker. By all reliable accounts, he is fairly sound theologically, and well spoken of by others whose work I do know and respect; so my expectations going into this book were high. Perhaps those high expectations colored my thinking as I read and made me too susceptible to disappointment, and disappointed I was. I want to state clearly that this is not a bad book. It simply did not, in my opinion, demonstrate biblically “how God shapes us through the events of our lives.”
Throughout the book, especially in the first half, Dr. Zacharias depends on anecdotes that illustrate the providential hand of God in directing our lives. These stories, for the most part, serve that purpose well, although, at times, I wondered if Zacharias was not leaning a bit too far toward the mystical. Too little was added by the author, however, to draw that conclusion—and that is a major complaint I have about this book. Have you ever had a conversation with someone who drops the ends of sentences and, with a meaningful look, expects you to get it? That’s how I felt reading this book. Zacharias would almost make his point, and then offer an anecdote, poem, or quote intended to convey the message. It was like . . . you know?
The second half of the book contains two chapters that are really quite good and could easily stand alone, Your Will Matters and Your Worship Matters. The following quote from the latter is the kind of solid, straight-forward writing that is lacking elsewhere in the book:
Teaching must become the center of worship again, and the ideas that shape our expressions must be biblically induced and shaped. I am not for a moment suggesting that right teaching will guarantee a throbbing, lively church. It may not. But I am suggesting that displaced and misplaced teaching will guarantee a heretical church.
The message of the book is that God is directing the circumstances and events of your life to make you who he wants you to be, and that you will never see this until you begin to look at your life from his perspective. And that’s an important message. It is a message that is conveyed, after a fashion, through the stories in this book. I only wish it had been conveyed more through biblical exposition.
You may enjoy the style of this book. I didn’t. If you are easily moved by poignant stories, this book is for you. If you are a pastor looking for fresh illustrations to spice up your sermons, this book might be for you. However, if you are looking for a biblical exposition of the sovereignty and providence of God, this is not that book.
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